Never Again
by SakuraKiss444
Summary: Only one thing has changed about her, the woman behind the glass; she is no longer pregnant. She slides a photograph under the glass of a tiny baby, sleeping in a smiling mother's arms. The man holds the photograph up inspecting the baby. "What's her name?" He asks. "Her name is Saki Rei Haruno. I took the liberty of not giving her the name of a killer." She replies. -SasuSaku
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own Naruto**

**Never Again**

**Chapter 1: Conviction**

* * *

_A ferocious knock pounds on the door of Apartment 14C. The door opens slowly, revealing a pregnant women with sparkling green eyes and rose petal-pink hair. _

_"Can... can I help you?" She weakly asks. The two men standing at the door have stone-cold looks on their faces. One holds up a badge._

_"Detective Hayagawa," the man holding the badge says, slipping the metal object back on a loop on his belt. "NYPD. Is your boyfriend home?" _

_"Yes. Let me get him. Please... come in if you want." The men enter the apartment in silence as the woman goes into what is presumably a bedroom. A man with jet black hair and stone-cold eyes exits the bedroom and comes out to greet the men. _

_"Can I help you?" He asks, pulling a beer from the refrigerator. He twists off the cap and takes a long pull of the drink._

_"Yes, you may," Hayagawa replies. "We're here investigating the death of Miss Ino Yamanaka."_

_"She was a former girlfriend of mine. How did she die?"_

_"She was hit by a vehicle at 12:45 PM last night."_

_"What does this have to do with me?"_

_"It was your car that hit her, wasn't it?" The second man speaks for the first time since the two officers arrived. The room falls silent. Another gulp of beer. The ticking of the wall clock in the background._

_"What do you mean it was his car?!" The green-eyed woman asks frantically to the officers. _

_"It... it was an accident. I swear it was." The man says quietly._

_"You... you _KILLED_ someone?! I swear to **God**, if this is a joke-" But it isn't a joke._

_The two officers very clearly point out the camera feed that captured both the murder and the license plate of the car. The woman begins to cry and swear at the man as the police cuff him._

_"Mister Sasuke Uchiha, you are under arrest for the murder of Ino Yamanaka. You have the right to remain silent; anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford one, one will be provided for you..."_

* * *

_"Sasuke Uchiha, you are hereby sentenced to seven years in prison for vehicular homicide." The gavel smashed down on the boards in the courthouse. Sasuke Uchiha's head stayed still, pointed towards the ground, shame covering his entire face, unbeknownst to the jurors or to anyone watching. Detective Hayagawa cuffed him behind his back and led him out to a car waiting to take him to his home for the next seven years._

* * *

**-:-:-**

* * *

_"Is this all you do with your life now? You work out all day and then refuse to eat? You're going to die if you keep that up. But that really isn't any concern of mine, now is it? _I_ didn't kill anyone." The pink-haired woman is back, sitting on the other side of a plexi-glass window, staring with cold eyes at her former lover. Only one thing has changed about her; she is no longer pregnant. She slides a photograph under the glass of a tiny baby, sleeping in a smiling mother's arms. The man holds the photograph up inspecting the baby._

_"What's her name?" He asks, misty-eyed. _I missed it_, he thinks, _I missed the birth of my own child. My own daughter...

_"Her name is Saki Rei Haruno. I took the liberty of giving her my last name instead of a killers." Her eyes squint mercilessly at the man. He simply nods and pockets the photo._

_The woman sighs. "It's been three months, hasn't it?" Nod. "Have you eaten anything? Anything that's going to keep you alive?" Shrug. Head shake. Another sigh escapes her lips, "Start eating. If you come out anorexic, I don't know what I'd do."_

_"You wouldn't do much of anything, would you?" The man answers for her, "You would just keep her even farther from me than you're already going to." The woman's face turns steely. _

_"Goodbye, Sasuke. I'm glad neither Saki or myself will be seeing you again. Ever again." The woman stands up, grabs her purse, hangs up the phone, and leaves. The man formerly sitting across from her closes his eyes and forces back the tears once again._

* * *

**_Got a question? Ask my tumblr! Aries-girl412_**


	2. Chapter 2

**I don't own Naruto **

**Never Again **

**Chapter 2 **

_**Thank you soooo much for all the positive feedback! I had some issues and the rough draft of this story deleted itself! D: but here is this one! However, it's only what I remember, so it'll most likely be worse… sorry guys!**_

* * *

•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•

* * *

"Mommy! Mommy!" An eight year old girl ran up to Sakura Haruno. "Can I go play wiff Lizzy?" She asked.

"Is Lizzy's mother there?" Her mother replied. She scanned the crowd at the park until she found Lizzy's mother.

"Hey, Roseanne," Sakura said, walking up to her, "Would you look after Saki while she plays with Lizzy? I've got a pretty bad headache."

"Of course!" Roseanne replied. "It's because you're working too much, you know. Two jobs, and a full-time mom. It's gotta be killing you!" Sakura shrugged.

After Saki was done playing with her friend, he mother took her by the hand and led her out of the park.

"Are we gonna go to the dress store mommy?" Saki asked.

"No, honey," her mother replied, "We need to go grocery shopping, and you need a haircut!"

The dress store, as Saki called it, was a small boutique in Manhattan. Inside waited a dress. A dress that might never be purchased. Saki thought her mother looked beautiful in the dress, and told the woman at the counter never to sell just one of the dress.

The dress was a deep pink that cut off several inches above Sakura's knees. There was a sweetheart neckline and no sleeves. The dress was purposely crunched up in the stomach area. Just about every single time they went into town, Sakura would try it on.

The grocery store was a bargain place, worlds apart from the fanciness of the boutique. A woman rang them up with tired eyes, robotically saying "Thanks for shopping with us." before the pair left. It was a work day, this Tuesday, so there weren't many other people on the streets.

Sakura took her daughter into the small hair salon and was greeted with,

"Hey! Sakura! How's it going?"

"Hey, Bethany. Pretty good. Finally caught a couple days off both my jobs, so I've been hanging out with Saki, even if I had to pull her out of school." Saki giggled.

"So, what do you want done to your hair, Saki?" Bethany asked, sitting Saki down in the chair.

"Just cut it to her shoulders," Sakura said. Bethany nodded.

As Saki sat in the chair and watched her raven black hair drop the the ground with her onyx eyes, she couldn't help but wonder where she got the colors from. Her mother had pink hair and green eyes. Saki was the complete opposite of that. She giggled to herself.

_About three hours earlier, Sakura Haruno had gone to the bathroom and left Saki in the care of Rosalyn. Saki had wandered off a little bit and a man had come up to her. _

_"My name is Sasuke Uchiha," he said. "I'm your father." _

_"You are?" Saki's eyes filled up with wonder. _

_"I am. But, you can't tell mommy you met me, okay? She probably wouldn't be happy about it." He handed his daughter some candy he'd bought her. _

_"Thanks, daddy." Saki said, smiling brightly. Sasuke kissed the top of his daughter's head. He opened his mouth, closed it and opened it again. _

_"Bye, sweetie." He said, standing up and walking out of the park, disappearing into the misty Tuesday afternoon._

"Alright! All done!" Bethany said, setting Saki back down on the floor.

"Thanks so much." Sakura said, getting out her wallet. She paid the fee and walked to Saki. She looked down at her daughter and swore she saw Sasuke Uchiha staring up at her.

* * *

•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•

* * *

**_*le gasp* _**

**_Sasuke is back in the story after the beginning of a chapter but technically almost eight years! Is it strange that Saki so willingly believes him?_**

**_Got a question? Ask my tumblr! Aries-girl412_**


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't own Naruto **

**Never Again **

**Chapter 3**

**•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•**

Sakura Haruno woke the next morning at ten A.M. She rolled over and saw that Naruto Uzumaki, her boyfriend, wasn't next to her. A little note was on the bed, along with a pink rose.

_"Sorry I couldn't be here when you woke up, but the boss wouldn't let me come to work late, y'know? I helped Saki make you breakfast; she should be there with the food at around 10:15. —Naruto"_

Sakura smiled and heard the clinking of dishes. She sat up and saw Saki, inching into the room with a tray full of food.

"Don't get up, mommy," She said as she carefully put one foot in front of the other. "I'm gonna do this."

After several minutes, Saki finally inched herself to her mother. Setting the tray down slowly on Sakura's lap, Saki stood at the edge of the bed, straight as a soldier. Sakura looked down at scrambled eggs, toast, bacon, pancakes (with whipped cream smiley faces, of course), a glass of orange juice, and a tiny cherry blossom in an itty bitty vase. Before a word escaped Sakura's lips, the buzzer for the doorbell rang.

"Don't get up!" Saki commanded, running out of her mother's bedroom and to the door of the apartment. Sakura heard a chair being pulled up and Saki standing on it. A happy gasp next heard, along with the chair being moved out of the way and the lock being unlocked.

Unlike Sakura was expecting, it wasn't her parents; her mother's over dramatic but cheerful "hello" was not heard, neither was her father's usual comment about the whereabouts of the ale in the penthouse suite where Sakura and her daughter lived. Instead, there was the sound of Saki giving someone a happy hug. Then shoes being removed and set on the mat by the door. The sound of a jacket being thrown onto the chair next to the door was heard next.

"Mommy's in here!" Saki said from the other room, taking the hand outstretched to lead to Sakura.

"Who is it, honey?" Sakura asked, craning her neck, in hopes of catching a glimpse of the guest. Instead of words, Saki entered, smiling brighter than she ever had in her life, holding the hand of Sasuke Uchiha.

"Sakura. It's nice to see you again. Happy birthday. What has it been? Almost eight years, hm?" The man said, his cold, dark eyes reflecting seven years of literal hell.

"Saki, why did you invite him here?" Sakura said, beckoning for her daughter to come sit next to her on the bed. Saki walked over and sat next to her mother. Sasuke stood, leaned up against the doorframe.

"I didn't." Saki replied, confirming Sakura's fear. "Why? Aren't you happy to see daddy?"

"I'm truly interested as to why you stayed here." Sasuke said to himself. To Sakura: "And yes, why wouldn't you be happy to see me?"

"You know why I'm not happy to see you, Sasuke."

"Why, mommy?" Sakura bit her lip.

"I… no, of course I'm happy to see him. It's been quite a while since I've seen him, after all. And… why did you call him your father?"

"Because I look just like him! And he told me he was daddy, so he is!"

"When did you talk to him?"

"At the park!" Sakura's eyes flashed angrily for a moment.

"Saki," She said, "Why don't you let me talk to your father for a few minutes. Go get dressed, okay, baby?" Saki smiled, pecked her mother on the cheek, and ran past Sasuke towards her bedroom, just down the hall.

"What are you doing here?" Sakura growled furiously at her former lover, the instant she heard her daughter's door close.

"I came to see my daughter since I was just released a week ago. They offered to let me out on good behavior three times, but I've done my time. I suppose I also wished to tell you happy birthday." He then repeated 'happy birthday' eight times. "For each time I've missed," he said. He then repeated Merry Christmas, Happy Valentine's Day, and Happy Anniversary to her eight times. He held up a bouquet of roses.

"I don't expect you to forgive me," He said, "Not at all. However, I do expect you to let me move back into my own apartment; since it is mine, after all. I'll sleep on the couch since Saki lives in the second bedroom and I'm assuming the guest bedroom is now an office of some sort?"

"No, it's still a bedroom. But you can't stay here. Naruto will be furious. He knows what I've been through, Sasuke. He's been here for five years."

"Five years?" Sasuke replied, actually semi-shocked. "How long we were together? Ten years, correct?"

"Nine years, ten months, seventeen days." Sakura whispered.

"Ah." Sasuke replied. "Well if I can't stay here, I'll simply move in across the hall and Saki can visit whenever she likes."

"There are a thousand other apartment buildings in a twenty mile radius from this building. Go stay somewhere there. Besides, there are people moving in there tomorrow morning."

"Yes," Sasuke replied, "Me. I was simply hoping that you could let me stay here so I didn't have to spend an unnecessary amount of money while I am already mostly paying for your rent. I'm perfectly fine with that, of course, I have enough to buy out this entire building and turn it into a shopping mall, but I'd rather be closer to my own daughter."

"Sasuke, you MURDERED a girl with your car! It was so blatantly obvious you killed her!"

"Sakura, do you know anything about Ino Yamanaka?" Sakura paused, passing a piece of bacon through her lips. After a minute, she shook her head.

"Ino Yamanaka is the kind of girl who, after being out of a relationship with me for almost ten years, knowing that I have a fiancé, and a pregnant fiancé at that, would track me down in the middle of the night in December, trying to get back together.

"Ino Yamanaka is the kind of girl who would find me, shopping in the middle of the night, trying to find those nose strips you like, and run out in front of my car, forcing me to slam on snow-covered breaks.

"Ino Yamanaka is the kind of girl who wouldn't get out of the way, even though I told her I had to get home to you. Ino Yamanaka is the kind of girl who would try to stick her hands in my car window. Ino Yamanaka is the girl who would refuse to get out of the way of my car so I could be home by one-thirty A.M. so you could have your nose strips. Ino Yamanaka is the kind of girl who would refuse to move even when I started up my car. Ino Yamanaka is the kind of girl who ended up getting hit and dying because I needed to come back to you." Sakura immediately diverted her gaze.

"I can't believe you." She said. "I can't. I can't believe you actually love me. After everything, you still killed a girl, whether by accident or not." Sasuke nodded.

"I didn't expect you to. But telling you the truth of the matter, that it was an accident and she wasn't supposed to die, or get hit for that matter, shows that I can at least tell someone who hasn't harbored feelings for me in years, the truth."

"That makes no sense." Sakura replied. "It's a jumbled sentence. I don't want you near my daughter: that should be easy enough to figure out."

"Just let me take her off your hands today." Sasuke said, a measure of pleading in his voice. "Just give me one chance. That's all I need. One chance." Sakura gave him a stern look.

Sasuke sighed. "It's your birthday, Sakura. Your thirty-fourth birthday. Go out, buy yourself lunch at a nice place, go to that museum we used to go to when you were pregnant. You loved that place, didn't you? Whatever it is, I'll pay for it. Just go live a little. I'll take Saki to the park, and run her through McDonald's for lunch. We'll be back by dinner time for sure, and I'll take you and Naruto out. I've made reservations for three at the restaurant down the road you used to speak to highly of, so I won't go." Sakura sighed. It DID sound nice to have a day by herself, no work, no Saki complaining about being tired or hungry, no Naruto to baby her with little gifts and things because he thought she couldn't take care of herself and Saki. Just her. Alone.

"I'm still apprehensive about this…" She said.

"Sakura, if I learned anything in prison, other than how to give tattoos with sewing needles and bench-press 310 pounds, it's that if you hurt a child and go to prison because of it, you will get the hell beat out of you every day until you either die or request to be alone constantly, and even then, you might not get it. If I lay a wrong finger on Saki, even the guys in the yard I used to be friends with would gang up on me. Nothing will happen to our daughter." Sakura felt a twinge of guilt. _Our daughter,_ she thought. **_Our._** A sharp breath escaped her teeth.

"Fine." She said quickly. "Saki, I know you're outside the door, come in here, honey." Saki's tiny figure crept into the doorway, standing next to her father.

"Daddy was in jail?" She whispered, looking up at her father.

"It was an accident." Her father told her, bending down to eye level. "It will never happen again."

"Do you pinky promise?" Saki said, holding up her tiny pinky.

"I pinky promise." Sasuke replied, hooking his pinky with hers. "Now, we're going hang out today, okay?"

"But it's Mommy's birthday! We always are together on Mommy's birthday!"

"Well," Sasuke said, leaning close to his Saki's ear so he could whisper, "we're going to go get Mommy's birthday present. It's gotta be a surprise, okay?" Saki pulled back and beamed.

"Okay!"

Sakura, at this point, had finished her breakfast and had now moved to her closet, pulling on some clothes. "Be safe," She said, "Don't do something ridiculous."

"Okay, Mommy!" Saki said. She turned to her father, who picked up his jacket and pulled it on.

"Alright, Saki-chan," He said, "Let's go."

**-:-:-**

Sasuke Uchiha walked with his daughter down the maze of streets known as Manhattan.

"So, Saki," he said, as they turned onto a street littered in shops, "what do you think your mother would like for her birthday?" Saki didn't even have to think.

"The dress!" She said happily, dragging her father towards the shop she'd been in so many times before with her mother.

"Ah, Saki!" The shopkeeper, a round woman with curly red hair and hazel eyes said, "And… Mr. Uchiha! What an honor to have you in!" The woman scuttled out from behind the counter to Sasuke.

"Hello, ma'am." Sasuke replied. "We're looking for a dress, I believe." He gazed down at Saki, who ran behind the checkout counter and retrieved the dress. She opened up the box and showed her father.

"Isn't it pretty? Mommy tries it on all the time. She looks sooooooo pretty!"

"I bet she does." Sasuke said. "We'll take it." He informed the woman, who, after much negotiation, agreed to only cut the price twenty percent, instead of the fifty percent cut she originally made.

"I'll come back and get it later tonight," Sasuke said, "It won't be put to use until then anyway." Before Saki left, the woman pulled her back and asked,

"Is that your father?"

"Yeah it is!"

"Alright then." She ruffled the girl's hair. "Bye, now sweetie."

"Where do you want to go next?" Sasuke asked.

"I'm kinda hungry." Saki said, clutching her stomach.

"Okay. Where do you want to eat?"

"I want pizza!"

"Okay. I know a couple really good pizza places. Let's go." Sasuke pulled open the door of his black Lamborghini and let his daughter climb into the back seat, the dress hanging up next to her. Saki readjusted the bow on her shirt and the car sped off.

**-:-:-**

At 4:30, Sasuke and Saki returned back to the apartment. Knocking on the door since they didn't have a key, Sasuke took the time to stick a bow on the bag the dress was in and write a little note to his former fiancé.

Sakura shouted, "Who is it!"

"Mommy, we're home!" Saki called back.

"It's open!" Sakura then finished her glass of wine, climbed out of the bath, and rubbed the green mask off her face. She dried herself off, put on a bathrobe, and exited the bathroom.

"Happy birthday, Mommy!" Saki exclaimed, colliding with her mother's form.

"Oof! Hello, Saki. Thank you." She looked at the light fixture above the kitchen table, which was being used as a rack for a bag. "What's this?" She asked, walking over to it.

"It's for you, Mommy!" Saki said happily, bouncing up and down around the kitchen.

"Stop that, honey, you're disturbing the neighbors." Saki quit immediately. Sakura opened the bag, and peered down at the dress she'd desired for over six months.

"Oh, my God. You didn't have to buy this, Sasuke."

"But I did. Saki told me you want it, so I bought it. It wasn't really that much. The cashier knocked off twenty percent."

"Age sure hasn't changed you, has it? Still getting money off of things, even all these years later." Sakura smiled at the dress.

"You also need something to wear to dinner with Naruto and Saki." Sakura nodded slowly, walking into her bedroom to hang up the dress.

A knock came to the door as soon as Sakura exited her bedroom. She walked over, peered through the peephole for a half second, and opened the door.

Behind the wooden door stood Naruto Uzumaki; a tall man, about 5'11", strongly built, with blonde hair and striking blue eyes. He was wearing a dress shirt and pants, having just got off work a half-hour before. He wore a happy smile and held in his hands a small bag, inside residing another charm for his girlfriend's bracelet, which he had gotten her a few days after they began dating and added another charm for each special occasion they shared.

"Happy birthday!" He said, kissing his girlfriend.

"Eww…" Saki said quietly, covering her eyes. Naruto pulled his lips from Sakura's and waved at Saki. His eyes suddenly caught the eyes of Sasuke.

"Hey Sakura, who's this?"

"My name's Sasuke Uchiha. I'm paying for your dinner tonight. Nice to meet you."

* * *

**•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•**

* * *

**_DUNN DUNN DUNNNN! The boyfriend meets the ex-fiancée! _**

**_And also, thank you all for the positive feedback for this story. It really makes my day. —Chiharu_**

**_Got a question? Ask my Tumblr! Ariesgirlolivia_**


End file.
